Abstract

Climate change and migration are phenomena which cause a great deal of concern in the public opinion in both sending and receiving countries. This contribution sheds light on the link between climate events and migration flows based on evidence from the existing economic literature. Are these two phenomena related? Should we expect future migration tsunamis? Although climate shocks are likely to be an important driver of future migration flows, this contribution argues that the alarmistic predicitions often launched by the media are based on a thin scientifi c evidence. Future climate induced migration flows are likely to be of short geographical distances and mainly channelled through existing «migration corridors». Public policies can play an important role in making individuals and communities less vulnerable to shocks and reduce some of the negative consequences that are associated to forced migration flows.